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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25575103">Haven of the Found</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodlikewine/pseuds/bloodlikewine'>bloodlikewine</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Danny Phantom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Bad Parents Jack and Maddie Fenton, Bisexual Danny Fenton, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, Found Family, Happy Ending, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Let Danny say fuck, Light Angst, Mentions of experimenting, Multi, Necromancy, Not Phantom Planet Compliant (Danny Phantom), Psychic Abilities, Supernatural Elements, mentions of depression, mentions of vivisection</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:02:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,480</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25575103</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodlikewine/pseuds/bloodlikewine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Haven: A place of safety and refuge; home</p><p> </p><p>A week before Danny Fenton's fifteenth birthday, he finally tells his mother and father that he is Danny Phantom. Enraged and shocked, they immediately attack him, forcing Danny to choose:</p><p>Stay and try to salvage the situation, and possibly (probably) get hurt by his parents, or...</p><p>Leave?</p><p>Danny decides to leave, fleeing with nothing but the rucksack he made three months ago for this exact situation.<br/>He flees to Cassadaga, Florida, and learns more about the supernatural world and his powers than he ever thought possible, and really, truly learns what the phrase "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb," means.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Danny Fenton/Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>83</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. First Meetings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>After Danny tells his parents that he's Phantom, things goes worse than poorly and he's forced to run, ending up in Cassadaga, FL, where he meets necromancer Alexis Deveraux. </p><p>All mistakes are mine, I do not own DP, or Cassadaga, FL. LGBTQ+ themes, supernatural creature AU, worldbuilding, OC's galore.</p><p>OK, like... I've been down the rabbit hole of DP fics lately, and this plot just wouldn't leave me alone lol. I have no idea what I'm doing, this is my first DP fic and first fic on this site, I'm a full-time nursing student so just bear with me, any and all potential readers lmao I have zero concept of why I'm doing this. </p><p>Notes: There will be NO bad guy of the week, this is mostly a found family fic. There will be some minor bad guys, all of whom you've seen before in the show, but I mostly wanted to focus on how Danny finds a loving, if unconventional, family of his own after his parents fuck him over. Warning, Jack and Maddie Fenton are not nice or good parents in this fic. If there are any questions or tags you feel I've missed, please reach out and let me know! Comments and kudos are of course welcomed and appreciated, as it will let me know people are actually reading this lol. I reccomend listening to Family by Mother Mother, as it's my go-to song for this fic.</p><p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"Monster! Freak! Where'd my baby go, ghost?! What did you do to him?!"</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"I'll rip you apart, Phantom! Molecule by molecule! Where is my son?!"</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"Freak!"</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"Monster!"</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"We'll kill you! Where's our baby boy?!"</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"Filthy, hateful ghost!"</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Danny Fenton woke with a start, his chest heaving and body poised for an attack.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Where am I? Mom? Dad? Jazz?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>No answer.</p><p> </p><p>Then again, why would there be? Last he checked, he was somewhere in... Georgia? Tennessee, maybe? And his fam-... <em>Jack and Maddie Fenton </em>were still in Amity Park, Illinois.</p><p> </p><p>Hopefully, at least.</p><p> </p><p>He sighed and stretched, the last of the nightmare-induced adrenaline dissipating throughout his body. He looked around to gather where he was. All he remembered from last night was seeing the bright lights of an unknown building and landing haphazardly on it. He'd been flying for the majority of the day yesterday, and though his duffel bag was on the smaller side and didn't have a whole lot in it, it could still get heavy throughout the day. He was on the roof of a... <em>gas station?...</em> that was off of a highway. He crawled over to the side, careful not to be seen (<em>can't be seen can't be oh God what if someone see's and word gets back oh God they'll find me and rip me apart monster monster freak ghost</em>) and looks down at the parking lot. Yup, definitly a gas station; cars were littered about, and the smell of gas, now that he knew to smell for it, permeated the air. He wrinkled his nose, but smelled something other than gasoline. It was sweet, and delicious...</p><p> </p><p>Breakfast food.</p><p> </p><p>He swung his head around, and there behind him was the best thing he'd seen all day- a Waffle House sign. The halfa grinned, his stomach rumbling loudly. He dived for his duffel, rummaging through it. Where was it, where was it...?</p><p> </p><p>He pawed through the emergency kit he had made three months before this whole damn mess started, past his two pairs of jeans, one other shirt he could change into, various pairs of boxers and socks (the only things he had in abundance), past his 3-in-1 soap, deoderant, toothbrush, toothpaste... He started to breathe a little heavier, a vague sense of panic overtaking him.</p><p> </p><p>Where was his money? He knows he put it in there, after all: All the money he earned from Christmas and Easter, from doing oddball chores around the house and neighborhood, he'd shoved into an envelope and placed in his bag. He knows it's in there, he got food from a rest stop yesterday...</p><p> </p><p>As soon as the vague panic starts to turn into real, unyielding desperation, his fingers brush something wrinkled and papery, and he sighs.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>There it is.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He pulls the envelope out and counts the bills, and feels another sigh of relief upon doing so. He'd had $813 to start with, and he'd left... What, four days ago? Yeah, yeah, four days ago, and he still had $576 left. He's glad he decided to skip motels and big restaurants, sticking to sleeping on roofs and eating at vending machines and gas station food. Not the best way to live, but he needed to stretch what little money he had until he found someplace viable to stay and a place that wouldn't look too closely at his situation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <strike>A cruel, nasty voice in his mind whispers that he'll never find a place to live, never find a job, never find a way out, he'll never be more than an experiment, a freak, a monster, ghost ghost ghost.</strike>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He's got enough money for a Waffle House breakfast, and besides, he can figure out where in the hell he actually is.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Alabama.</p><p> </p><p>He's in fucking <em>Alabama, </em>what the actual <em>fuck.</em></p><p> </p><p>He genuinely thought he was in Georgia, but the waitress had kindly informed Danny that <em>no the fuck he was not.</em></p><p> </p><p>Oh, well. He'd eaten, paid, left a tip, snatched a brochure that boasted a map of the East coast, and hightailed it outta there. He was currently on the roof of the Waffle House-cum-gas station, pouring over the little map balanced on his knees. He knew where he was, now, he just had to figure out which direction he wanted to go in. He could stay in Alabama and find something here, he could go a little Westward, towards Mississsippi or Louisiana, or Eastern, to Georgia or Florida. His heart clenched a bit at the thought of Florida- the last and only time Danny had been there was when Freakshow got a little... <em>trippy... </em>and he, Sam and Tuck had to go searching for the reality gems. He's always wanted to go back, if only to mayvvbe catch a space shuttle launching...</p><p> </p><p>Danny huffs and says to himself, "Well I guess that settles it. Florida I go." He makes sure everything is put away, including his little map, before he winks out of sight and takes to the sky. He glances a look at a highway sign, just to make sure he's going in the right direction, and grins when he see's a bright green sign.</p><p>            </p><p>
  <strong>Tallahassee        30 Miles</strong>
</p><p> </p><p><em>30 miles away from the state capital? I can do that, </em>Danny thinks with a grin as he whoops, flying high.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Florida, here I come!</em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Okay, Florida officially <em>sucks.</em></p><p> </p><p>He'd entered Florida about three days ago, and in the morning it was fine. Nice, even, if much hotter than he was used to, and so damn muggy it sometimes felt like he was breathing in steam. It was the afternoons that were <em>fucking awful. </em>It would start to rain, and thunder, and lightening, and sometimes it would go on and off for hours, other times it was storming consistently. It was making his progress a little slow-going, as whenever it got terribly bad he'd bunker down, the streaks of lightening making something uncomfortable twist in his gut. It didn't matter though, because he was here now, and now he had to use his remaining $503 to find someplace habitable to live, and then try to find a job that would hire an almost-fifteen year old runaway who had never had a job before, and <em>God, </em>but he had no real-life experience, and the only thing he was remotely good at was fighting ghosts, what the<em> hell </em>was he <em>thinking, </em>he should've stayed, and dealt with the-the vivisection, or the experiments, but he had been so <em>scared, </em>his parents had looked so hateful and they hardly ever looked at Danny, but he didn't want them looking at him <em>like that,</em> should've taken his chance and dart into the Ghost Zone, God he was so goddamn stupid-</p><p> </p><p>No.</p><p> </p><p>No, he couldn't think like that. He'd make it, he'd find a way, he had to. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. First, though, he had to find a place to hide away for the night. He'd entered a little town, maybe five minutes ago, and it looked relatively safe. Emphasis on <em>small, </em>though- it was mostly houses that were scattered about on the edges and packed closely together in the middle. There seemed to be nothing else, other than a long, beige hotel with a wide wrap-around porch that was dead (<em>ha!</em>) smack in the middle. Bright red and pink flowers decorated the porch, with verdant green ferns wrapping around the black, iron-wrought handrails. It was beautiful, if a little strange- this tiny, tiny town with a huge hotel? <em>Oh well, </em>Danny thinks, <em>not my town, not my design.</em></p><p> </p><p>Directly across the hotel and to the right, running parallel, was a long, one-story white building. It looked like those olf schoolhouses from the 19th century Danny had seen in his history textbooks, and it was situated just before a dramatic slope downwards. In front of the hotel, off on a little side road, was a building painted black. It was even stranger, though. It had what looked like canvas stretched over wood, elongating the building into something much bigger than it was. Danny can only shake his head and remind himself that this town's architecture was none of his business.</p><p> </p><p>Besides, he still needed a place to land, catch his breath, and phase the rapidly-cooling water off of him, and he found that place in the form of a backyard. It was a couple houses down from the white school building, right where the hotel cut off. The backwayd was huge, with bright green grass and tall, spindly palm trees. Red and yellow and pink and blue flowers wound up the wooden gate, like reaching, stretching fingers, and a huge cypress was at the edge, its roots cutting into the sidewalk and its leaves brushing the ground, offereing a cool spot of dark shade. The backyard was home to a two-story white house, with cherry-red shutters and a matching door. Brick stairs cut into the gentle slope from the back door, making a path to the bottom of the yard where it evened out. There, in the middle of the backyard, was a fountain with a wood bench, more flowers curling around the legs. It smelled like rain and freshly cut grass, and it was perfect.</p><p> </p><p>Danny landed, the wet ground sqeulching under his equally wet trainers, and he glanced around. No one was outside, anywhere he looked. He swivelled his head back and forth, but the coast was clear. He glanced at the house, and found it dark, no car in the driveway. He took a deep breath, savoring the smell of fresh flowers, and dropped that damn duffel bag. After glancing around once more, he deemed it safe enough and dropped his invisibility.</p><p> </p><p><em>Now time to phase this water off of me and eat some chips,</em> he thought to himself.</p><p> </p><p>He did not see the woman sitting on a second bench under the big cypress tree, her dark, indigo eyes staring at him.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Alexis Deveraux was goddamn <em>exhausted.</em></p><p> </p><p>A huge family had came into town last night, at least fifteen, and they were all staying at Cassadaga Hotel. Which, fine, great, <em>fantastic.</em> They needed the tourism. What was not fine, or great, or fantastic, was the fact that the hotel was perpetually understaffed. Not enough maids, not enough cooks for the one, tiny restaurant/bar, not enough front desk clerks, and not enough psychics.</p><p> </p><p>Which was why Alexis was so damn tired.</p><p> </p><p>William McCarthy had been overwhelmed, and the family was demanding to see a psychic at the hotel (<em>why they couldn't walk around and find one in their home, she had no fucking idea, Cass was the Psychic Capital of the World for a goddamn reason, they were all over the place</em>), and as such, Willie had called her, begging her to come in and do a reading.</p><p> </p><p>She wasn't even a psychic! She was a goddamn necromancer! She could raise the dead, sure, talk to them all she wanted, but reading someone's future? Their fortune? That was Vivienne's job, or Mama Marmelade's. She was no fortune-teller, the most she could do was mutter some humbo-jumbo and look at tarot cards.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"Oh, but Lex, they want their futures told! Please, girlie, you know I'll owe ya one! Just two sessions, that'll be it!"</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Yeah, well, two group sessions had turned into four, and then it turned into seven one-on-one sessions. There was a reason she only did one seance per week, no exceptions. These tourists, specifically the out-of-staters, could be tiring. She eyes her house from where she's standing on the hotel's porch. <em>I'm gonna make his </em>two sessions<em> ass mow my backyard, </em>she thinks viciously. She steps off the porch and begins to walk to her home, lighting a cigarette along the way. She makes it maybe five steps before there's a rush of air, and then a tall, regal woman is beside her, dressed in a black cocktail dress and high, sharp heels. Her dark red hair is pinned back, showcasing bright, intelligent green eyes and sharp cheekbones. The woman keeps pace with her for only a few steps before breaking the silence.</p><p> </p><p>So? How did it go?" Her thick Russian accent curls around the words like smoke, and Lex sighs.</p><p> </p><p>"About how you'd expect," she drawls back, offering Natascha one of her cigarettes. The redhead takes one, long and pointed nails glittering like rubies in the late evening sun. Natascha nods her in thanks, lighting it with her own lighter, and exhales.</p><p> </p><p>"They're entitled, of course, and non-beleivers, which they think gives them the right to laugh at the shit I say. What if I had been telling the truth," Lex exclaims, her eyes narrowing. Natascha laughs, glancing over at her.</p><p> </p><p>"Except, <em>tovarisch, </em>you were not telling the truth. You are no psychic."</p><p> </p><p>"Well, it's not like they knew that," Lex responds, with what she thinks is dignity. Nat only laughs again, the vampire easily keeping pace depsite the cracks in the sidewalk and her heels. By now, they've reached the back gate to Lex's yard, and Lex raises her eyebrow.</p><p> </p><p>"Was there something you wanted <em>other </em>than to see how those awful sessions went?"</p><p> </p><p>"Can't I just spend some time with my best friend," Nat murmurs, flashing her a sacharine smile. Lex doesn't believe that shit for a second.</p><p> </p><p>"Ordinarily, yes. But now? No. You're planning on making me do something, and according to the cards, the answer's gonna be no." She rips open the gate and enters, slamming it in front of Nat. When she twists around, the vampire's in front of her. Damn it.</p><p> </p><p>"Now, now, Lex, you don't even know what I want! It could be absolutely harmless!"</p><p> </p><p>"Is it?"</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm, for me? Yes, and most amusing. You? Not so much, <em>tovarisch.</em>"</p><p> </p><p>Lex's cigarette has burned down to the filter. She tosses it in the direction of the coffee can by her favorite bench, the one under the cypress tree, and resigns herself to her fate.</p><p> </p><p>"Alright, what do you want me to do?" </p><p> </p><p>"Connor and Rosie Myers are hosting a barbecue this Saturday."</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Oh, you goddamn Commie bitch-!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>"No!" Lex immediately shrieks, baring her teeth at Nat. While the redhead might have been the leader of the supernatural community within DeLand, Lake Helen, and Cassadaga, Lex was not afraid to go toe-to-toe with her. She did not do group gatherings. At all.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes," Natashca replies evenly, having already expected this response. "Everyone is going to be there, including the spiteful little mer family on the outskirts of town. I'm going, Ren is going, Willie is going. Vivienne and Mama are going, which means <em>you </em>are going. You are going to come, for at least an hour, and you are going to interact with the supernatural community and the few humans here who know about us. You are going to smile, and be nice, and be polite, and when you leave you can go back to being our surly little ghost whisperer. But you <em>are </em>going. We're a united front, <em>tovarisch, </em>and you know this."</p><p> </p><p>Lex glared at her, fists curled. The grass at her feet began to wilt and shrivel, going from bright green to an ugly, diseased brown. Nat just stares at her, a calm, open expression on her face, and Lex finally huffs out a deep breath.</p><p> </p><p>"Okay, fine," she mutters, like a sulky child, and Nat smiles brightly.</p><p> </p><p>"Perfect! I knew you could be persuaded!" Nat is oozing charm, and Lex wants to rip her hair out. She refrains, of course.</p><p> </p><p>Because she is not a child.</p><p> </p><p>"Until next time, darling!" With a wave, Nat is gone, only the smell of her lavender perfume left to even hint that she was once there. Lex groans and shuffles to her favorite bench, picking up her discarded cigarette and placing it in the tin coffee can. She hates that she's going, but Nat is right. The Cassadaga supe community needed to be a present, united front, and with how many new supernatural creatures were showing up, looking for a safe place, that was more accurate than ever. Still, though.</p><p> </p><p>She hates crowds, always has, and Connor and Rosie Myers, while kind and sweet, were so damn bubbly sometimes that it made Lex sick to look at them. At least their twins were a little better, a little more... <em>Human, </em>which truly was ironic, considering the wolf howls that were heard nightly were because of said twins. Oh well, it was no matter now. She told Nat she'd go, and even if she was willing to argue with her, actually fighting with the vampire? Absolutely not, not unless she had to. Natascha Ivanov was the leader of their area for a reason, after all.</p><p> </p><p>She plops herself down on the bench, sitting back in the shade, and lights another cigarette. She curls up and takes a deep breath, glad to finally be home and <em>alone. </em></p><p> </p><p>That is, until her senses warn her of death nearby, and she could've groaned. <em>What now, ghost? Go away! </em>She didn't recognize the signature, which was just fucking great. A ghost she didn't know, encroaching on her space? How typical of the dead.</p><p> </p><p>She glances out, towards her fountain, where the signature is strongest. It's a little odd, though. It feels closer to how a human felt to the necromancer when they were on the verge of death- alive, but infected with decay- but there was no one there, which meant it had to be a ghost...</p><p> </p><p><em>Maybe another supe, </em>she thinks, a little uneasy. If it is, then they should know better than to be in her territory. Just as she's about to call out, a boy appears.</p><p> </p><p>He's maybe thirteen, maybe fourteen, with messy hair, as black as her own. It's greasy, depsite how wet it is, and hangs down in his face in stringy tangles. He's far too thin and pale, with blue-purple shadows under his eyes and a hollow, gaunt look to his face. She's fairly certain she could wrap her hand around his forearm and have her fingers meet. His clothes are ragged and wet, stained with grass and mud. His lips are cracked, and his fingers were shaking. She sent out her power towards him, touching him just a bit, and- <em>oh. </em>He <em>was </em>a human. Then how...? He was no witch, or magic practioner. She would've felt the magic rolling off of him, and she could clearly see he was breathing, and her senses were still screaming <em>ghost! </em>to her.</p><p> </p><p>What in the fuck was he?</p><p> </p><p>Well, whatever he was, he just sat down on her <em>second favorite </em><em>bench, </em>and was tearing into something. She tilted her head, lowered her gaze, and saw a black duffel bag at his feet. He was rifling through it until he finally pulled out a bag of chips. The bag was wrinkled and already open. He grinned triumphantly, emitting a small <em>Aha! </em>before he opened the bag. He went to reach his hand in, before he shook his head.</p><p> </p><p>"Danny, you idiot, you're still wet,"  he murmured to himself. He stood and went hazy, in the way all ghosts did when they went intangible, and the water slopped off of him. Now that he was dry, it was clear he was even more of a mess. His hair was lank and dull, and she was fairly certain he had ketchup and mustard stains on his white, threadbare t-shirt. He settled himself back down on <em>her goddamn bench, </em>and immediately began inhaling Cheetos. Enough was enough, Lex decided.</p><p> </p><p>"Who the hell are you?"  </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Necessities</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Danny takes a shower, Lex grumbles, and Danny is generally unaware of a room's mood.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Who the hell are you?"</p><p> </p><p>Danny whirled around, panic crawling up his throat and fear settling in his stomach. He looked! There was no one around! Who said that? Oh God, did they see?</p><p> </p><p>"Wh-who's there?! Come out and-and show yourself!" His voice was shaking. He couldn't believe it- one week, and someone's already seen him.</p><p> </p><p>Pathetic.</p><p> </p><p>Movement from the direction of the cypress tree, and Danny whirled towards it, his fists raised. Someone was walking out, and in the dying light of the evening he could barely make out a woman. Her features were indistinct, and all he could tell was that she was tall and slender.</p><p> </p><p>"Who am I? Who the <em>fuck am I?</em> Well, isn't that ironic, considering this is <em>my goddamn property!</em> Who the fuck are you?!"</p><p> </p><p>Danny winced, his eyes widening. "I-I... I'm sor-sorry! I just..." He trailed off, unsure what to say. What would cause the least damage? He had no idea. He wasn't really worried about cops- he could slink away from them easily enough, but if word got out? What if the Guys in White found out he was in the South? What if his mo- Maddie and Jack Fenton found out? They could cause serious problems. His inner monologue was interrupted. </p><p> </p><p>"Jesus Christ, kid, get the fuck inside. It's dark out, and the last thing I need is to be the last person laying eyes on some homeless little shit," Lex grumbles, irritation skittering up her spine. How fucking typical. She whirled away and strode up the steps leading to her home, hesistating at the screen door. The kid was still standing by her bench, staring at her like he'd never seen another human being before. For all she knew, maybe he hadn't. He certainly looked like a dirty little vagabond, and she in no way wanted him in her home. But, alas, she was curious, and needed to know what the little shit was.</p><p> </p><p>As far as she saw it, the only way she was going to get answers was if she at least let the kid take a bath and let him get some food inside him.</p><p> </p><p>"Well? Are you coming, or are you just going to stay outside in my yard for the night? At this point, you could choose either option and I'd be okay with it." The boy gave a jerky, shuddering nod, and reached down to pick up his bag. Lex watched as he made his way up the stairs, still staring at her. She opened the door and moved inside, reaching over to flick the light switch on.</p><p> </p><p>Jesus, he looked terrible...</p><p> </p><p>In the brighter light of her home, he somehow appeared even worse, and this close she realized he smelled like shitty shampoo, sweat, and something... electrical. Like ozone, or-</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Why does this child smell like ectoplasm?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She decided it had something to do with his turning visible and phasing water off of him, and decides that she is going to have to deal with that later, when the kid didn't smell so offensive. He slowly crept in, gaze swivelling around. He jumps when she slams the door closed behind him.</p><p> </p><p>"Go upstairs, third door on the left, and shower. You reek. You got clothes, kid?"</p><p> </p><p>Danny stares, bewildered. Why is she being kind? He doesn't trust this one bit, but nods stiffly. He can handle himself, and a shower does sound nice.</p><p> </p><p>"Um, yeah, I've got some clothes. Tha-thank you."</p><p> </p><p>She nods stiffly. "Don't mention it, kid." </p><p> </p><p>Danny gets the feeling she really means that. He looks down at his bag, wondeing where it can go, before the woman snaps her fingers at him. He looks up, irritation creasing his brow at being treated like a dog.</p><p> </p><p>"Second door on the left is a bedroom. Put your shit in there. You steal anything, and I mean <em>anything</em>, I'll beat the shit out of you. Go, go." She waves a hand at him, gaze darkening by the moment. Danny decides not to question why she's suddenly offering him refuge, but after a week of taking what amounted to sponge baths in dirty rest stop bathrooms, he's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He gives her a wary nod, and walks up the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>The bedroom was easily found, and it was quaint. Light blue walls and polished hardwood floors, there was a huge, ceiling-to-floor window that took up the entire far side, with a screen door built in. The curtains were billowing and white, and there was a matching dresser next to the door, the same shining mahoghany as the floors. There was a closet on the other side of the doors, and in the middle of the room was a relatively large bed, with a dark blue bedspread. On either side of the bed were little nightstands, both of which had picture frames of the beach. Shells littered the top, and on the one closest to the window was a clear bottle filled with sand. There were a few pictures on the walls as well, which carried on with the beach theme. At the foot of the bed, a bone-white chest sat, with a quilt draped over it. It's quaint, and homey, and it makes Danny miss his home back in Amity.</p><p> </p><p>But as it turned out, that wasn't really his home, was it? </p><p> </p><p>Danny dropped his bag at the door, leaning down to rifle through it. He found his exta pair of jeans and one of t-shirts quickly, though he sighed deeply. They were wrinkled and smelled, but that didn't matter. He would get a shower, a real shower. </p><p> </p><p>Putting dirty clothes on after wasn't even a blimp ono his radar. He turned around, dirty clothes in hand, and jumped.</p><p> </p><p>The woman was standing there, her head tilted up at an arrogant, imperial angle. Danny had seen that same head tilt on Vlad many times, and his hackles intantly raised, hunching his shoulders up. She raised an eyebrow, looking thouroughly unimpressed.</p><p> </p><p>"You need clothes, kid? The shit in your hands looks even dirtier than you currently do."</p><p> </p><p>The barb stings, and Danny gets the feeling it's meant to. He curls inward, not wanting to think of how dirty he really is. He hears another sigh, and he glances up in time to see the woman run a hand through her long hair. She pushed past him, walking to the dresser and pulls the top drawer open. She immediately pulls out a pair of dark gray sweatpants, opens the next drawer, and pulls out a ratty white t-shirt. She tosses the items to him, and then yanks the closet open. She reaches up, and he hears something crash.</p><p> </p><p>"Shitfuckcunt," she mutters quickly, though she doesn't bend down to pick whatever it was up. She finally pulls out a package, and rips it open and tosses something green at him. It's-it's a pair of boxers, clearly brand-new, and Danny doesn't even question how she has them, he's so happy. These are-these are clean clothes, and Danny has never been happier and more grateful in his life. She tosses the pants and shirt to him, and jerks her head towards the hallway. Danny nods and scuttles out, opening the door next to it. It opens to a plain bathroom- white walls and yellow tile, white furnishings. It doesn't need to be fancy, it needs to be working, and Danny feels a rush of gratefulness to this strange woman. He closes and locks the door behind him, peels the offending clothes off of him, and gets in the shower.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Lex has just made it downstairs when she hears the water turn on, and she is seething. What a stupid idea to let the kid in her house. Now that she's given it clothes, and let it bathe, it's going to want to stay. Lex doesn't need to look after a raggedy little runaway. All she needs in life is to drink, talk to a few dead people, and relx. She doesn't need this. Either way, she stomps to the kitchen and pulls out the leftover gumbo she made the other night. She pours some in a pot and throws it on the stove, some of it sloshing out over the side. She puts the heat on low and stands at the foot of the stairs, staring up. Her right ring finger is tapping a beat, a nervous gesture from her youth. What to do with the kid? She realizes she doesn't even know his name.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>No! If you find out his name, you'll get attached. No names; find out what he is, feed him, and send him on his way.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She slides a glance at the stove. She's pretty sure she can step outside to smoke. And well, if her house ends up burning down, at least then she won't have to worry about the kid. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Danny is in <em>heaven.</em></p><p> </p><p>The water pressure is great, and it his hot, and she has real shampoo and conditioner and soap, and Danny hasn't realized how much he was missing until it's been shoved in front of him. He inhales the soap bottle in his hand, glancing at the front, and he feels something that feels a lot like guilt settle in his stomach. The soap is called Black Orchid, and it reminds him of Sam. Sam, and Tuck, neither of whom he saw before he left. He didn't even get to say goodbye, didn't even get a chance to tell them he loved them, would miss them...</p><p> </p><p>He wonders what Jazz has told them, and hopes that it will be enough. Hopes that the three of them, his two best friends and his sister, will be able to move on. He's-</p><p> </p><p>
  <strike>
    <em>(a freak monster ghostghostghost)</em>
  </strike>
</p><p> </p><p>-not worth their worrying. They know he'll be fine.</p><p> </p><p>He's Danny Phantom, after all.</p><p> </p><p>But that brings him back to the woman who is giving him whiplash, the woman who's name he doesn't even know. He still has no clue if she saw him go visible, but he thinks she must have. Why else would she invite him in, even as she snarls and sneers at him? It doesn't matter- he used to be a terrible liar, but now he can lie with the best of them, and lie he will.</p><p> </p><p>He knows better than to tell the truth, now.</p><p> </p><p>He thinks back to her head tilt, the one that reminded him of the fruit loop. Head tilted back and cocked to the side, it screams <em>I'm better than you and we both know it!</em> Danny hates that look. Otherwise, the similarities end there. Her hair is long and straight, and blacker even than Danny's own, and her eyes are a startling indigo blue. Her arms were covered in tattoos, scrawling pictures of bright flowers and butterflies interspersed with grinning, macabre skulls. She was tall, and appeared young, and beautiful. </p><p> </p><p>Something about her terrified Danny down to his core.</p><p> </p><p>He was fairly certain she wouldn't try to hurt him, despite the curled lip and cold eyes, but still. Something about her seemed terribly ancient and cruel, even though Danny wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't even 30 yet. She reminded him of someone, someone other than Vlad, but he couldn't put his finger on it quite yet. He decided to let the thought drain away like the water, unconcerned with it. </p><p> </p><p>He wasn't staying long enough for it to matter, anyway.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>By the time Lex strolls back in, the water has turned off upstairs, and she can hear movement. <em>Finally</em>, she thinks, rather uncharitably, and goes to turn the stove off. The gumbo is steaming, and she grabs two plates and fills one to the brim. He looked too skinny, and Lex, depsite herself, feels something akin to pity. Whatever it is she's feeling, it's disgusting and it would be better for everyone if she went back to feeling only mild irritation and hunger.</p><p> </p><p>But, alas. There's a street urchin in her upstairs guest bedroom and her bleeding heart will probably get her shanked. She thinks she's ready to go.</p><p> </p><p>Could be fun.</p><p> </p><p>She hears the kid stomping down the stairs, and she wants to screech, but holds it in because, once again, she is an Adult and has Adult Reactions.</p><p> </p><p>Nevermind was Nat says.</p><p> </p><p>She turns around and has to hide her shock very, <em>very</em> carefully, because now that the boy is clean, he somehow looks e<em>ven fucking worse</em>. There is an almost faded bruise on his right cheeckbone, a brusie that seems far too familiar on his jugular <em>(don't think about what could have caused that bruise, not yet</em>), and the bags under his eyes are so pronounced that it makes his face look skeletal. His skin isn't just pale, he's sallow, a sickly-yellow color, and she has a feeling that wherever he was before is a whole lot worse than being on the run. The shirt and pants hang off him, and his collarbone is sharp, the skin stretching over it. He is tiny, and too skinny, and god only knows if he's hurt in other places, and his sky blue eyes are wide and hopeful but still so scared, and he looks so much like Lex did when she was stealing wallets on the streets of New Orleans that she feels something in her <em>crack</em>, and something dark and ugly in her reaches up to her heart and squeezes, and whispers, <em>Mine</em>.</p><p> </p><p>She wants to scream and rage and sob, because this is a <em>little boy</em>, and no little boy should ever look like he does, but when she opens her mouth the only thing that comes out is "Hungry?" </p><p> </p><p>He nods, violently, and Lex wants to hit something, but that will be for later, when he is asleep. She hands the bowl to him, digs out a spoon for him, and he sits at her little table and inhales the food. Lex wants to throw her bowl at the wall, but she forces herself to eat slowly instead. She watches him for a moment, gauging when to ask her questions, and as she does, she comes to a decision. It will be a terrible decision, she knows, but a decision nonetheless. She see's an opening, where his eating has begun to slow, and snatches it.</p><p> </p><p>"You gotta name, kid?"</p><p> </p><p>He looks up at her with shock, like he's surprised she's deigning to speak to him, before he swallows and says, "Yeah, uh, my name's Danny. Danny, uh-" and here he flounders, and Lex shakes her head. </p><p> </p><p>"I don't need a last name, not yet at least. You in trouble with the law? Got anyone looking for you, anyone that could cause me trouble?" Even if he does, she'll deal with it.</p><p> </p><p>"No, ma'am. I'm not in trouble, and no- no one's looking for me." His gaze drops, and his shoulders hunch, and Lex aches for this little boy who is all alone.</p><p> </p><p>"No ma'am, ugh. I hate being called ma'am. I'm Alexis Deveraux, but just- ugh, just call me Lex, or Lexi, or, or, whatever. Just not ma'am, Jesus."</p><p> </p><p>He glances up at her, the beginning of a smile on his face, and nods. "Thank you for letting me shower and eat, Lex. I appreciate it."</p><p> </p><p>She nods and decides to just drop the bomb now, when there's no food in his throat and no chance of choking.</p><p> </p><p>"So, kid, you wanna stay?"</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hi! Chapter two, which I hope anyone who's reading enjoys. Again, as I am a nursing student, updates will probably be every other week, but I am trying! Thank you to everyone who left comments, kudos, etc! It means a lot to a poor soul such as myself. Again, beta'd by me, and the only thing I own are the mistakes I have made.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Choices</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Alexis realizes that she also does not know how to read a room.</p><p>Also, there's some slight panicking, and then some rules, and Lex, as usual, has a potty mouth.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>LMAO I'm sorry everyone for the late post but I'm still here! Thank you to everyone for the comments and kudos, and please enjoy!</p><p>I do not own DP, uh not beta read, all mistakes are mine, yadda yadda!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Danny stared at the woman before him, aghast. <em>Did she really just ask me...? </em>He was so, <em>so </em>confused, and something that felt a little bit like worry was snaking its way through his stomach. He took in a shaky breath, thinking over the words, even as the worry morphed into fear. He didn't know this woman! He'd met her barely an hour ago! He still didn't even know if she'd seen him earlier! What if she wanted him to stay so she could call the Guys in White? Did she even know who they were? </p><p> </p><p>All those questions raced through his mind at a mile a minute, the fear slowly growing and choking him with every second Alexis Deveraux <em>didn't look at him. </em></p><p> </p><p>Did she want to hurt him?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <strike>The scalpel glittered green in their basement, and Danny knew that it wasn't his blood. He also knew that one day, it would be.</strike>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Danny takes a deep, shuddering breath, still staring at the woman. Her jaw was clenched tight, her indigo eyes dark and angry. She wasn't looking at him, rather past him, over his shoulder, and that calmed him a bit. He wasn't sure he could stand having those midnight eyes glaring into him. He sawllowed hard, and decided his best option was just to ask.</p><p> </p><p>"Um, what, uh- what d'ya mean, do I wanna stay with you? Why... why would you <em>want </em>me to? Yo-you don't know me, and I don't know you, so..." He trailed off, uncertain. She still wasn't looking at him, and actually looked as if she hadn't even heard him, which- <em>rude!</em> Here he is, summoning all that courage he gained from ghost fighting, and she isn't even listening?! Danny huffed and waved his hands in the air, in front of her eyes, and still nothing. It looked like she was off in her own world. He briefly considered how this would be a good moment to sneak out- after all, he'd showered and had good, <em>real </em>food, and she wasn't even paying attention to him, but.</p><p> </p><p>But.</p><p> </p><p>Despite the general bad attitude and glowering, she hadn't actually hurt him. Maybe... maybe she wouldn't? There was only one way to find out, and that was by talking to her. He huffed again, steeled his resolve, and clapped his hands as loud as he could.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Oh, you dumb, arrogant, stupid fuckin' bitch.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>To say Alexis was mad at herself would be an understatement.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Do you really think it fuckin' matters if you asked  when he wasn't chewing anything? You dumbass, you know better! You know you can't just spring that on a kid like this, what's wrong with you?!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She was so absorbed in yelling at herself that she didn't notice Danny asking her a question. All she could see was his reaction at her question; the tensed shoulders, the wide, scared blue eyes, the clenched fists. She was an idiot. She was such an idiot, and now this poor little boy who was skin and bones and <em>bruises </em>was going to leave, and run into people who would hurt him, because she <em>knows- </em>she knows who the GIW are, they tried to come here to Cass all the time before they finally realized that the shit that lived here was so much worse than anything else they'd ever seen. But she knew, <em>she knew, </em>that this boy in front of her wasn't human and she knew that the GIW would try to take him. If not them, then someone or something else, and he was just a little boy who obviously had no idea what he was doing and he was going to <em>bolt </em>and she just <em>needed to help him-</em></p><p> </p><p>The sound of skin on skin snapped her attention back to the present.</p><p> </p><p>Danny was still sitting there, at her rickety little kitchen table, with a wary but open expression on his face.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strike>
    <em>God he was so young who would hurt this boy?</em>
  </strike>
</p><p> </p><p><strike></strike>"Are... are you, uh, okay," he asked tentatively, and Alexis felt something desperate rush through her. Here she was, dropping a verbal bomb on him and scaring him and then immediately spacing out afterwards, and he was asking if she was okay.</p><p> </p><p>She was a piece of fuckin' work, is what she was.</p><p> </p><p>But she digresses.</p><p> </p><p>She forces a smile on her face and mumbes, "Yeah, kiddo, I'm good. I'm sorry for just droppin' that on ya."</p><p> </p><p>"It's okay," Danny hums, then asks, "I just... Um, were you serious? About me stayin'?"</p><p> </p><p>And that is a question Lex didn't think was going to be asked tonight.</p><p> </p><p>"Shit, kid, I mean yeah. I, uh-" (absolutely <em>not </em>she was not taking a trip down memory lane, <em>thank you</em>) "-I don't want a kid staying out here at night. And, jesus, you look like shit, so. I'm makin' you this offer only once, but you don't gotta agree right now. You can take until tomorrow, or whatever. But... If you wanna stay here, live here, whatever, you can."</p><p> </p><p>Danny stares at her, but he sees nothing in her face that frightens him. Before, she had scared him- he'd seen something cruel and cold in her eyes, and her expression had looked to be made out of stone. He's not sure where the complete 180 in her attitude came from, but he's not gonna complain. Nor is he gonna complain about the wary, tired, but lukewarm look in her eyes that has replaced the cruel look from before. Still, though, he needs some reassurances.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strike>
    <em>(She'll never let you stay, once she finds out what you are she'll sell you, get rid of you, monster monster freak ghost)</em>
  </strike>
</p><p> </p><p><strike></strike>"What am I gonna have to do? Y'know, if I, uh, do decide to stay here." He's tense, again, because what if she wants him to be some sort of slave? Or, worse, what if she wants him to steal for her, or-...</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>(He thinks of his father's hand wrapping around his throat as he yells, and he isn't sure he ever wants anyone to touch him ever again.)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Lex huffs. "You wanna stay, you gotta help me with laundry, dishes, and vaccuming." She briefly thinks of having him mow, but she's gonna make <em>damn </em>sure Willie repays her back completely, so he doesn't have to mow quite yet. "Other than those things, you gotta get a job and clean up after yourself. You're clearly a pre-teen, but I'm not 'bout to have my house looking a mess because a fucking child doesn't know how to clean. Uh... if I think of anything else I'll just... Jesus, we'll go over it in detail tomorrow or something, if you want, I don't fuckin' know. Capiche?"</p><p> </p><p>Danny thinks it sounds a little too good to be true, but Sam and Tuck <em>did </em>always say he had problems with trusting people too easily... Just as he's about to tell her yes, he'll stay because he knows good and damn well he would never make it on his own, she speaks again.</p><p> </p><p>"And right now, you don't gotta give me a last name, or tell me just how you can turn invisible <em>and </em>intangible, but some day. Some day, kid, you're gonna hafta spill."</p><p> </p><p><em>I knew it was too good to be true, </em>Danny thinks a little dishearteningly. But... But she said <em>some day, </em>not <em>right now, </em>so he'll bounce before then. It's not like he's gonna stay here forever, after all.</p><p> </p><p>Either way, even though he's already decided, he still asks, "Can I give you my answer tomorrow, please?"</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, kid," she nods, and something in her face looks sad, suddenly. Before Danny has time to think on it, she jerks her head to the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>"Go on up to the same room as before and go to bed. You look like you've had a long day, kid. Get some sleep." Her tone doesn't invite any arguments, and Danny nods. He gets up and brings his bowl to the sink, running that and his spoon underneath some water before heading upstairs. Now that he's clean and fed, he can feel the exhaustion creeping up on him, wrapping long bony fingers around his body and making him sway. He manages to make it to the room and just barely manages to close and lock the door (he's exhausted, but he's not <em>stupid</em>), and as soon as he gets under the covers, he's out.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Lex stares after the kid, after <em>Danny, </em>as he makes his way up the stairs. Her stomach is in knots, but she's relieved, and so is that black, twisted thing that grabbed ahold of her heart. She's fairly certain he'll stay. Lex has no idea what it was that made her so unwilling to send the boy away, if it was the bruises, the gaunt face, or the cracked lips, but she supposes it doesn't matter now. He's gonna stay (<strike><em>oh god oh god please stay he's just a little boy he shouldn't be so afraid who made him afraid?)</em></strike> and now all she needs to do is... Fuck.</p><p> </p><p>Fuck her with a stick, she's gonna have to tell people. People are gonna find out, and she's gonna have to make a cover story, she's gonna have to make sure no one actually <em>is </em>coming for him, she's gonna have to-</p><p> </p><p>-<em>she's gonna have to tell Nat.</em></p><p> </p><p>Son of a bitch.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. A New Morning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Danny wakes up after a restful night, and some things look harsher in the daylight, without the shadows to soften them. Some things, however, gleam a little brighter.</p><p>AKA:</p><p>Danny is just excited for breakfast after a not-great moring, Lex wants to commit homicide, and Danny gets to meet someone</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello all! I'm back! Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting, it is a balm to my poor, dumbass soul.</p><p>A REMINDER that Jack and Maddie Fenton are not good parents. I know its in the tags, and literally been mentioned in every chapter so far, but just in case. Even though I liked their characters in the show on occasion, I've decided to make 'em some real bastards this time so fair warning! ANOTHER WARNING is that Danny has one eensy, teensy tiny thought of suicide in this chapter. It's gone rather quickly, and I haven't put it in the tags, but if anyone thinks I should lemme know! Also a mention of a very small panic attack that is not described in detail. Thanks!</p><p>Again, all mistakes are mine, I own nothing.</p><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Danny woke slowly, easily, which was a miracle unto itself. Normlly, he heard explosions and the whirring of machines, smelled burnt toast and ectoplasm. But now, he only heard the chirping of birds and smelled something sweet, like raspberries. He stretched languidly, his arms reaching far above his head as he luxuriated in the soft bed. He wasn't sure why, but something about the bed struck him as particularly comfortable, almost as if he hadn't slept on a bed in awhile.</p><p> </p><p>He froze.</p><p> </p><p>That was because he <em>hadn't </em>slept on a bed in awhile. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Fear and panic melded into one as he flew high above the rooftops. Had to get away, had to get far away. He flew as fast as he could, pushing his body past his normal limits, stopping only to eat and wash his face and sleep on rough, stone rooftops. He couldn't be in a bed, no, no, no no nonono that meant he was back in Amity, no-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>"-uck, kid, calm the fuck down!"</p><p> </p><p>Danny gasped, air rushing into his lungs so quickly and forcefully it felt like knives, stabbing into his throat and down into his lungs. He looked around wildly, confusion twisting his face and marring his eyes. His chest rose and fell with each shallow breath, terror winding its way through his nerves, into his veins, even as he slowly began to recognize his surroundings. Blue walls, a bone white chest, seashells littering the bedside tables. A large window, overlooking a sloping hill and a simple, algae-covered fountain.</p><p> </p><p>At the foot of the bed, one knee propped up on the chest, stood Alexis.</p><p> </p><p>Her long, black hair was wild and mussed, a distinct contradiction to yesterday. It fell about her shoulders and down her back in shadowed tendrils, but the shadows did nothing to hide her eyes. Danny supposed, in that moment, her eyes rather resembled his own. Darker and colder, yes, but they were wide with a carefully hidden caution.</p><p> </p><p>The caution wasn't hidden well enough, though.</p><p> </p><p>She pressed her lips together and seemed to debate on speaking, her right ring finger tapping an irregular beat against her right thumb. Danny took in a deep breath, now that the memories were slowly filtering in, and when he released it it came out shaky. He dragged a hand through his own hair (it felt soft, and it was only a week or so that he was on the run but it's amazing how a week can make one forget even the most simple of things), and then dragged that hand down to his mouth to worry on the thumb nail. He wondered if she would take her offer of sanctuary back, and he hoped she wouldn't.</p><p> </p><p>He should apologize.</p><p> </p><p>For what, he's not exactly sure- he doesn't think he had a nightmare, just a quick and minor (at least for him) panic attack from waking up safely when his life has been anything but for the last several months, but she's still staring. Her lips have turned white, now, with how forcefully she's pressing them together. No, he's not exactly sure why he should apologize, but he knows his par- Maddie and Jack expected an apology out of him when he got like this, to apologize for pulling them away from their research, so apologize is what he will do.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pull you away from whatever you were doing. I'll keep it quiet next time." </p><p> </p><p>There, that oughta do it. An apology, and a promise to not do it again. Perfect. Or, at least, Danny thinks so until her gaze slips from almost hidden caution and morphs into something that Danny can only classify as hateful. His breath freezes in his lungs, and his hands tighten into fists.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Way to go, freak, idiot, monster ghost half-breed, you made her angry, should've apologized better, she'll kick me out and I'll have nothing and no one should've just died it would've been easier-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>"Don't apologize." Her words are sharp and staccato, in line with his heartbeat, and her tone matches her expression. Hateful and dark, it makes the bruise on Danny's neck throb. But it's not the tone that catches his attention, or the way she uttered the words, but rather what she said. Don't... apologize? He doesn't understand, and thinks this must be a trick, but before he can come to any sort of conclusion about that she speaks again.</p><p> </p><p>"Don't <em>ever </em>apologize for something like that. It wasn't your fault, and you didn't <em>pull me away from anything. </em>I came because I wanted to, not out of some moral obligation. And you better not keep something like that quiet, either! You need help with anything, you come to me and I'll help. You're a <em>child, </em>not a burden, and I'm not gonna have you treat your own damn self like that. I dunno who the <em>fuck </em>told you it was a good idea to apologize for something like that, but you will <em>never </em>owe me an apology for that." </p><p> </p><p>The entire time she spoke, her tone and gaze stayed even, never once wavering, but Danny can see how her hands clench and unclench. He's not sure what to make of her words; Sam and Tuck told him that stuff all the time, but they were his best friends. They're supposed to agree with you over parents, it was the Best Friend Code. It's another thing entirely to have an adult, a stranger, tell you those things, especially with her conviction. She sounded like she believed what she said as simple truth, and Danny...</p><p> </p><p>Danny believes her. God help him, but he does, even though that hateful look is still trained on him. It reminds him of Vlad, when he would stare at Jack Fenton and thought no one was looking at him. It reminds him of Jack Fenton, when he stared at Danny with his hand wrapped around his throat while he screamed for the very son he was hurting. It reminds him of the GIW, of Dash, of Pariah Dark, but even still there's one difference. </p><p> </p><p>Those looks had been directed towards him, but this... It's for him. Danny's not sure how he knows, but he does.</p><p> </p><p>Well, his friends always did say he trusted too easily. </p><p> </p><p>Lex takes a calming breath. "Get up and get dressed, then come on downstairs. I made waffles and sausage."</p><p> </p><p>Danny's stomach chooses that monent to growl, loudly, and he startles, looking at her with wide eyes. That hateful look on Lex's beautiful face melts away, returning back to cool indifference, and she gives him a nod and leaves. She stops at the door, though, and turns around with a a soft smile on her face. Another nod, and she's gone, the door closing softly behind her. Danny returns the smile a little too late, but it's there on his face all the same as he gets up and begins to get dressed. He shoves all the concern and fear out of his head, at least for a little bit, and concentrates on the waffles and sausage. He hasn't had a good breakfast since he stopped at a little Waffle House that was merged with a gas station in Alabama, right on the border on Florida, and he's excited for it. </p><p> </p><p>He does not think how it is a sad thing to be excited for.</p><p> </p><p>Nor does he think of how he locked the door when he went to sleep last night.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Lex closes the door very, <em>very </em>softly behind her, and strides down the stairs, to her back door, grabbing her cigarettes on the way. She closes her back door, also very softly, and wants to scream. Instead, she looks at the house that's situated directly behind her own home and sends out a concentrated wave of power that promptly turns everything in their yard a dull, dead brown.</p><p> </p><p><em>Ha, </em>she thinks bitterly, <em>serves you right, Mrs. Haggersbury, you spiteful bitch. </em></p><p> </p><p>Mrs. Haggersbury is not, in fact, a spiteful bitch; rather she is a very sweet, kind older woman who often gives Lex snacks.</p><p> </p><p>It is, in fact, Lex who is the spiteful bitch, as evidenced by the fact that she gladly destroyed her kind neighbor's yard over her own.</p><p> </p><p>Although, to be fair, Lex does all her own yardwork herself, which included planting all the flowers and trees that are currently residing in her backyard. All Mrs. Haggersbury has is grass, and as such Lex decides that it would be a far less terrible crime to destroy her yard than her own. Lex briefly wonders if she should feel guilt, then decides she will make Mrs. Haggersbury a casserole and drops the matter entirely from her mind.</p><p> </p><p>Besides, if it wasn't a yard she destroyed, it would probably be a person, and she can think of at least seven people who would be mad at her for that, so.</p><p> </p><p>She was doing everyone a favor.</p><p> </p><p>She rips open the cigarette pack, plucking one of the sticks between her fingers and bringing it to her mouth, lighting it and breathing deep. She's trying not to think about it, how Danny was gasping and sputtering so loudly she could hear him in the kitchen with the door closed. It's difficult not to, though, and his rapid, short breaths are replaying in her mind. She wants to destroy something else, let out her power that is death and destruction, but she refrains.</p><p> </p><p>She doesn't want to fuck up her flowers.</p><p> </p><p>Instead of letting out that death magic, she shakes her head and takes another drag. Besides, it wasn't the panic attack that got to her, not really. She sort of expected it. No, it was the <em>apology. </em>That damned apology, when there was no need for such a thing. It makes her want to find whoever made a little boy apologize for feeling fear and strangle them. Nothing compared to what he said after, though.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I'll keep it quiet next time.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>How many times had he kept quiet, in fear of whoever it was that demanded he apologize? How many times had that little boy's breathing quickened, fear and panic and helplessness pooling in his stomach like lead as he fought to keep quiet so he didn't upset another? She rolls her neck to the side, forcibly shoving the thougts away. It will do no good thinking about this, not now and not until she has some answers. She acknowledges that those answers will take a long time, and normally she is not a patient woman, but she will be.</p><p> </p><p>She'll be patient for him, and kind, and soft, or at least as best as she can be. To be kind and sweet and loving is not in her nature, but she will wrap herself in those things until she's remade herself, until her face does not twist in anger and hate and until a sneer does not curl her lips.</p><p> </p><p>She's unamde herself before, and for this lost, lonely child, she will do it again. </p><p> </p><p>She's brought out of her musings by a door opening behind her. She glances back and see's Danny, his head poking out of the door. He looks a little better, now. His hair isn't so stringy or lank, and his eyes seem a bit brighter.</p><p> </p><p>She's glad for it.</p><p> </p><p>Danny swallows and asks, "Did you- did you wanna eat with me?"</p><p> </p><p>She's a little surprised- she didn't think the boy would want to be around her, yet- but she nods her assent. His eyes light up even more, the color of a soft summer sky, and for a moment he looks so radiantly happy that words escape her. But she swallows, inhales once more, and tosses the cigarette on the steps. She twists her head to the side to exhale, and grabs the door, opening it more to walk in. Just as she's about to step in, though, a voice rings out.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, Lex!"</p><p> </p><p>Lex pales.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Vivienne Baptiste stared down at her kitchen table in dismay. It was not a dismay borne of something unfortunate happening, oh no. Vivienne Baptiste was too good at too many things to allow something unfortunate to happen in her kitchen. Rather, she was dismayed because she had a little too much <em>Gateau au Beurre, </em>more commonly known as Haitian Cake. She'd made them for the barbecue on Saturday, but she'd went a little overboard and had no room in her fridge for all the cakes to cool. She pressed her lips together, brushing her braids over her shoulder. The jewels that were braided within her hair clinked and chimed as they brushed against one another.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>What to do, what to do...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>A lightbulb went off.</p><p> </p><p>Lex! Lex loved when Viv brought her snacks, specifically Haitian snacks. She had three extra cakes, so she'd just bring them on over to Lex. Nodding to herself, she went about wrapping them up. Once they were all on a cake pan and cellophaned, she slipped her shoes on and left. The morning was already almost unbearably hot and humid, and Viv quickened her pace, hoping to get to Lex's and in the AC as fast as possible. Even still, she took in a deep breath, the sweet smell of the cakes mixing in pleasantly with the smell of freshly cut grass and hibiscus. If she was being honest, she was glad she found this excuse to see their resident surly necromancer. A lot of people in Cass weren't very fond of Lex, finding her power too macabre and dangerous, and finding the woman herself too cold and vicious. Viv, though, loved seeing her. She found her honesty and acidic temperment refreshing, and besides. Lex had never been anything but kind to Viv, even though the woman kept that kindness at a distance. It would've been nice to be able to at least touch her, but maybe it was for the better.</p><p> </p><p>Bad enough she was tormenting herself with entertaining her crush, the last thing she needed was to add unnecessary touching into the mix.</p><p> </p><p>She walked down the slope of the hill, looking to the right. If she had timed it right, Lex <em>should </em>be outside, either smoking or finishing up smoking, and...</p><p> </p><p>Aha!</p><p> </p><p>She caught a glimpse of long, blue-black hair and brightly colored skin, and Viv couldn't have stopped the smile from spreading across her face if she tried.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, Lex," she chirps, waving a hand in the air. Lex whips around, her face paler than normal, and that's when Viv see's the boy.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Danny freezes upon seeing the woman call out for Lex. He attempts to duck away, into the house, but big, doe-brown eyes catch his, and Danny knows he's been caught. He presses his lips together, sagging down as if he were a puppet whose strings have been cut.</p><p> </p><p><em>Well, staying here and being safe was a nice thought, </em>he thinks dismally. He should've known better, though. This was always going to turn out to be a pipe-dream. He's Danny Phantom, and he could never forgive himself if Lex ended up getting hurt because she housed the half-breed ghost. Even still, it hurts. What hurts more though is the way Lex's already pale face had paled even further, leaving her bone-white, and the way she whipped around. She's standing stock-still, and Danny isn't even sure if she's breathing. It's no surprise- Danny knows he looks a mess, he wouldn't want anyone to see him either. He glances around Lex, to the strange woman.</p><p> </p><p>She's beautiful; high cheekbones and arching brows, her skin a smooth dark brown. Her hair is long and braided, and gold beads and iron-wrought feathers are woven in with her hair. She looks surprised, and more than a little confused, but something in her dark eyes tells of kindness. Her gaze shifts from Lex down, over to Danny, and Danny wants to shrink away. He shuffles his feet, debating on if he should duck further behind Lex or stand straight and tall. Before he can decide, Lex speaks.</p><p> </p><p>"Viv. I didn't know you were coming over today." Her voice is smooth and even, and Danny can't tell if she's upset or not.</p><p> </p><p>"Hmm, originally I wasn't, but I made a few too many cakes and decided to give you the extra. I know how you love my baking," the woman- <em>Viv</em>- murmurs, and her tone is much easier to figure out. It's soft and sweet, and instantly puts Danny at ease, at least until she speaks next.</p><p> </p><p>"I didn't know you had a guest over. I'm sorry if I interrupted anything?" </p><p> </p><p>No, not at all," Lex immediately soothes, "this is Danny. He's a friend of the family, he's gonna be staying here awhile."</p><p> </p><p>Danny sucks in a sharp breath, glancing up at Lex. Did she really mean that? She must, because the next instant Lex is shifting to the side, so that Viv and Danny can see each other properly. Lex turns to him, and there's wariness in her eyes, like she isn't sure if she crossed a line or not. She raises an eyebrow, as if to ask, <em>This ok?</em> and Danny give her a small smile. He turns back to Viv, and in doing so completely misses the shocked look that Lex gives him for the smile. He doesn't realize it, but that is the first real smile he gave Lex, and it knocks her off of her game for a brief moment.</p><p> </p><p>"Danny, Vivienne Baptiste. Viv, Danny," she introduces, and if Viv thinks it's strange that Danny was given her surname while she did not receive one in return, she doesn't mention it.</p><p> </p><p>"Hello, Danny," is what she says instead, and comes up the stairs to shake Danny's hand. Her grip is strong, calluses on the pads of her fingers, but she doesn't try to make the handshake hurt. Danny's grateful for that.</p><p> </p><p>"Uh, hi Viv," he mutters out, and his voice shocks him. He never used to sound so shy. She just beams at him, though, her teeth bright against her dark skin. She holds up a cake pan that has three shapes on it, wrapped tight in cellophane. When she speaks, her voice is so joyous that it almost makes Danny want to cry from how kind it is.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <strike>He doesn't deserve kindness, but maybe these two women will give it to him anyway.</strike>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>"I brought cake!"</p>
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